Panasonic Viera TX-55CS520B review

Panasonic’s entry-level CS520 range is comprised of some of the cheapest Full HD, smart TVs available today. They all look like impressive value, but the 55in TX-55CS520 hits the screen size and price sweet spot.

For this review we tested the 55in model in the CS520 range, but it’s also available in 40in (TX-40CS520) and 50in (TX-50CS520) screen sizes. All models have identical specifications except for their dimensions and power usage. We’re confident that image quality will be practically identical across the range.

This is still a budget TV though, so if you’re after something stylish you should probably look elsewhere. The CS520, while not ugly by any means, is more functional than attractive, with no real design flare. It feels reasonably well put together and the stand is stable enough to survive a few minor knocks without falling over.

Image quality out of the box is fine, although it’s well worth delving into the many adjustment options to get exactly the sort of image you’re after. Of the five available image modes (Dynamic, Normal, Cinema, True Cinema and Custom), we found Custom to be the best starting point. It provided the brightest and most vibrant image by default, making it a great starting point for balancing RGB hue, luminance and saturation.

We always measure sRGB colour gamut coverage out of the box, and on default settings the TX-55CS520B managed 92%. Despite the option to tweak RGB colour settings, we weren’t able to improve this but in truth it’s not the colour coverage you should be worrying about. Contrast was sky-high at 5423:1 and black levels were incredibly low at just 0.04cd/m2. This leaves even the murkiest of movie scenes packed with detail and easy to watch.

Panasonic’s intelligent frame creation uses the 200Hz panel to its best effect, drawing in frames to reduce the jagged movements created by slow horizontal and vertical panning. The Max setting was unnaturally smooth and Minimum didn’t quite solve the juddering in our Star Trek: Into Darkness test footage, but Mid provided a welcome middle ground.

Because of the size of the screen, any image noise is amplified, and while there are tools for reducing noise, we couldn’t get them to a setting where they were able to cover all bases – noisy images became a bit blurry and blotchy, and while this is probably preferable, it still didn’t look particularly good.

Image settings can be copied to other image profiles, and the TV remembers which setting you use on each input, so you can have different settings for your Sky box than you do for your PS4, for example. This is particularly important because with the various image processing options switched on, there’s a huge amount of input lag – we measured it at 133ms, which isn’t suitable for gaming. Fortunately, Game Mode switches off all image tweaking services and reduces input lag down to a more acceptable 55ms. It’s still not great for very twitchy games, but most casual gamers will do just fine.  Continues on Page 2

Audio quality is genuinely impressive for such a cheap TV. A pair of 10W speakers deliver crisp and punchy sound with plenty of stereo separation, and speech is clear while music is reasonably well served, with even a hint of bass making an appearance. The fact that this TV is able to deliver great sound on a budget is obviously very important: having to splash out on a set of speakers or soundbar would miss the point of buying a budget TV in the first place.

Because it’s a budget model, you don’t get Panasonic’s intriguing Firefox OS-based smart TV interface and you’re instead saddled with My Home Screen, the ageing smart TV software we’ve often taken issue with in the past. However, more recent Panasonic TVs have shown signs of improvement and while the fairly clunky home screens remain, the default layout is much more usable, with the main home screen gaining a reasonably useful EPG instead of the mostly useless calendar applications of old.

A full complement of the UK’s biggest catchup TV services are available; BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4 (formerly 4OD) and Demand 5. Netflix is pre-installed and even gets a dedicated button on the remote control, and Amazon Instant Video, Wuaki.tv and YouTube are available too. You can download additional applications from Panasonic’s store but they’re not essential.

You also get Freesat’s Freetime EPG, which is useful for searching for upcoming shows on different channels. For example, search for Top Gear and you get all showings from BBC Three and Dave. You can’t really do anything with these results though; it would be useful, for example, if you could set a reminder for a showing, but you can’t. Steady improvements, then, but everything still feels a little inconsistent.

The weakest part of this TV is connectivity. You get just two HDMI inputs, which is seriously stingy. This 55in TV is going to be the centre of a living room, but only being able to plug in two external devices via HDMI is severely limiting.

The second HDMI port at least supports audio return channel, so you can output sound to a set of home cinema speakers. There’s SCART connector and a set of component ports, too, as well as an S/PDIF audio connector. Finally, there’s a USB port so you can play videos and view images from external storage devices.

The Panasonic TX-55CS520B is a great value 55in Full HD TV. Its smart TV interface is a mixed bag and a dearth of HDMI ports are small stumbling blocks, but for £800 you’re getting a capable television for a family on a budget with a large living room. If this isn’t suitable for your needs then check out our regularly updated Best TVs and buying guide. Buy the Panasonic Viera TX-55CS520B now from John Lewis